2002 Somaliland municipal elections

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2002 Somaliland municipal election
15 December 2002
  Dahir Riyaale Kahin.jpg Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud Silanyo - Chatham House 2010.jpg Faisawara.png
Party UDUB Kulmiye UCID
Popular vote 179,389 83,158 49,444
Percentage 40.76% 18.90% 11.24%
 
Party Sahan Hormood Asad
Popular vote 47,942 40,538 39,596
Percentage 10.89% 9.21% 9.00%
Politics of Somaliland
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Municipal elections were held across Somaliland on 15 December 2002. Six political associations fielded 2,368 candidates to contest 379 local council seats in nineteen of Somaliland’s twenty-three electoral districts.[1]

Long queues of voters in the Somaliland municipal elections

Prior to these elections, local government only consisted of a mayor and a councillor both appointed by the Ministry of Interior by the recommendation of the President.[1] These elections would pave way for the establishment of popularly-elected local governments that were directly responsible to local constituencies.[citation needed]

Political associations[]

The Constitution of Somaliland stipulated that only three political parties could exist at any one time.[1] As a result, the three associations that gained the largest numbers of local council seats would become the official political parties and enjoyed exclusive legitimacy for the next ten years [1].A political organisation had to achieve 20% of the vote in at least four of Somaliland's six regions in order to become a national party and contest presidential and parliamentary elections.[2]

The contenders that took part in this process included:[1] [3]

Results[]

Over 440,000 people took part in the country's first municipal elections.[4] Results were announced a week later by the National Electoral Commission, with UDUB, Kulmiye and UCID finishing as the top three parties.

PartyVotes%
United Peoples' Democratic Party179,38940.76
Kulmiye83,15818.90
UCID49,44411.24
47,94210.89
40,5389.21
39,5969.00
Total440,067100.00
Source: African Elections Database

Aftermath[]

The elections were viewed largely as a success and was an essential step in the transition from a clan-based formed of governance to a democracy.[5]

Political associations that ranked fourth or lower ceased to exist.[5] Although Sahan passed the threshold of receiving 20% of the votes in at least four regions and UCID did not, it was decided that UCID's higher national vote share qualified it to become the third party, a controversial decision.[5][2]

Councillors from the associations that were dissolved were subsequently required to join one of the newly appointed national parties, UDUB, Kulmiye or UCID.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Hersi, Mohamed Farah (29 May 2015). "Confronting the Future of Somaliland's Democracy: Lessons from a Decade of Multi-partyism and the Way Forward". Africa Portal. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "2002 Local Elections in Somaliland". africanelections.tripod.com. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  3. ^ Jhazbhay, Iqbal (19–20 August 2010). "Civil Society & their role in Africa's struggle to deepen democracy: Experiences of Somaliland in the Horn" (PDF). African Participatory Democracy Conference, SACP.
  4. ^ Woldemariam, Richard Bennet and Michael (11 July 2014). "Nurturing Democracy in the Horn of Africa: Somaliland's First Elections, 2002-2005". Nurturing Democracy in the Horn of Africa: Somaliland's First Elections, 2002-2005.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Renders, Marleen (20 January 2012). Consider Somaliland: State-Building with Traditional Leaders and Institutions. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-22254-0.
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